Many troublesome and dangerous intersections are now equipped with red-light cameras . Run those red lights and you may find a very expensive traffic ticket in your mailbox! A detector is activated when the signal turns red. If a vehicle passes the stop line the red-light camera takes two or more pictures of the vehicle. The camera is focused to give a clear view of the vehicle, its license plate, and the signal.

When the images show the vehicle running a red light a citation is mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle. The registered owner can submit an affidavit naming the person who was driving, if someone else was driving their vehicle.

Many times people mistake the camera to the right as being a Red Light Camera. This is the most common camera type in use at intersections nowadays, It is actually a video image vehicle detection system (VIVDS). They are the most common type of camera at intersections and are designed to detect the presense of vehicles at intersections. When vehicles are detected it communicates with the traffic signal computer controller, just like Loop Detectors (under the pavement), but at reduced cost and increased reliability.

Another object confused with Red Light Cameras is the object on the left. It is actually an infrared receiver. These are used with a systems to allow an authorized vehicle to change the signal to green as it approaches the intersection (i.e. Emergency and Public Transportation Vehicles).